Eurozone Unemployment Rate Hits a Record 11.6%

The EU statistics agency Eurostat reports that the unemployment rate in the eurozone climbed to a record 11.6% in September. That was up from the 11.5% reported for August, and exceeded the 11.5% estimate of economists surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires.

Some 146,000 were added to the number of the jobless in the eurozone, bringing the total to 18.49 million in September.

Spain’s unemployment rate was the highest in the eurozone. The number of jobless rose to 25.8% of the workforce in September from 25.5% the month before. The unemployment rate in Greece exceeded 25% as well. The eurozone’s biggest economy, Germany, has one of the lowest unemployment rates at 5.4%.

Youth unemployment across the eurozone also increased. Eurostat placed the rate at 23.3% in September, compared with 23% in the previous month. But in Spain, youth unemployment rose to 54.2% from 53.8% in August.

The September unemployment rate in the United States was 7.8%. The Bureau of Labor Statistics is scheduled to report its October update on Friday.